QF 3-pounder Nordenfelt | |
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At Melbourne Town Hall, 1895 | |
Type | Naval gun Coast defence gun |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 1885–19?? |
Used by | Many countries |
Production history | |
Designed | 1885 |
Manufacturer | Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company Maxim-Nordenfelt |
Specifications | |
Mass | UK 45-cal version : 452 pounds (205 kg) barrel & breech |
Length | 45 calibres |
Shell | Fixed QF |
Shell weight | 3 lb 4 oz (1.5 kg) |
Calibre | 47-millimetre (1.850 in) |
Breech | Vertical sliding-block with locking wedge |
Muzzle velocity | 1,959 ft/s (597 m/s) |
Maximum firing range | 4,000 yd (3,700 m) |
The QF 3-pounder Nordenfelt was a light 47 mm quick-firing naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 19th century used by many countries.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom only deployed this gun for coast defence, and soon discarded it in favour of the similar QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun for both coast defence and naval use.
Ammunition
Ammunition was in "fixed rounds" : the projectile and brass cartridge case were loaded as a single unit. The gun used the same ammunition as the similar QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss, with either Nordenfelt or Hotchkiss fuzes. When introduced in the 1880s the propellant used was gunpowder, in British service Cordite Mark I was used as propellant from the mid-1890s onwards.
- British steel shell round, 1891
- British common shell round, 1891
See also
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era
- QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss – Hotchkiss equivalent
Notes
References
- Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 32
- ^ Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 32 quote 4,000 yards (3,700 m) with muzzle velocity 1,959 ft/s (597 m/s), for the British 45-calibres model in 1914 using 6oz 6dr cordite Mk 1 propellant.
Bibliography
- I.V. Hogg and L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.
External links
British Empire small arms & ordnance of the Victorian era | |
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Sidearms | |
Muskets and rifles | |
Artillery | |
Mortars |
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War rockets | |
Machine guns |